Winter 1984 - 1985 - Quarterly Review

RELATIONSHIP OF JUDAISM AND CHRISTIANITY
claimed. Rather, Christianity is a commentary on the original Exodus,
in which the later event—the Christ event—is a manifest, "biblically"
miraculous event. God becomes incarnate and self-validating through
miracles. Obviously, many Jews will argue that closing the biblically
portrayed gap between the human and the divine, between the real
and the ideal, by Incarnation, is idolatrous or at least against the grain
of the biblical way. But even if Incarnation is contradictory to some
biblical principles, the model itself is operating out of classic biblical
modes—the need to achieve redemption, the desire to close the gap
between the human and divine which includes divine initiatives, etc.
Thus one can argue that Incarnation is improbable and violative of
other given biblical principles or that it is unnecessary in light of the
continuing career of the Jewish people. But one can hardly rule out the
option totally, particularly if it was intended for Gentiles and not
intended for Jews. This approach grants Christianity legitimate roots
in the biblical, but also locks it into a biblical mode of theological
action.
By contrast, Judaism went into a second stage, continuous but
developed out of the biblical mode. In this stage, God is more hidden,
Judaism is more worldly. In this stage, the human matures and the
covenantal model leads to greater responsibility for human beings. I
personally consider the rabbinic to be a more mature mode of religion.
However, I would also affirm that the sacramental mode (Christianity)
is most appropriate for Gentiles. This is the first step of Gentile
covenantal relationship with God. Jews were in the same mode in
their first stage, also. The choice of this mode bespeaks the divine
pedagogy of love which approaches people where they are and, only
after they have grown into the covenant, leads them to new levels of
relationship. Nor does my analysis foreclose the possibility that
sacramental Christianity is in fact a higher form of biblical religion,
i.e., one in which God is even more manifest and present.
N.B.: The foregoing model of the relationship of Judaism and
Christianity to each other and to biblical faith is offered with great
diffidence. The statement that Christianity is closer to the biblical
mode can be misused to reassert the old Christian claim that
Christianity is the true outgrowth of the biblical covenant and that
Judaism is cut off from its roots. Moreover, the model opens great
vistas of Christian legitimacy in Jewish eyes without any guarantee
that the ongoing Christian denial of Jewish validity will be stopped.
My affirmations, then, may feed Christian triumphalism and
supersessionism. I acknowledge the risk but I think it is worth risk to
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